We give you the scuttlebutt on academic journals—aiding you in selecting the right journal for publication—in reviews that are sometimes snarky, sometimes lengthy, always helpful. Written by Princeton University graduate students and Wendy Laura Belcher.

Yale French Studies

For those who are senior scholars with Ivy connections, as this is a closed journal that does not publish “unsolicited articles” on French literature and culture.

Established in 1948, Yale French Studies is the “oldest English-language journal in the United States devoted to French and Francophone literature and culture.” Dozens of articles from the 1970s and 1980s have been cited hundreds of times. However, more recently, articles are cited less. In the past ten years, only five articles have been cited in the double digits. Perhaps this is evidence that restricting submissions affects the vibrancy of a journal, although it might be because the last three years of the journal are never available online. Only in the humanities, where scholars are most trying to prove their relevance, do we see closed journals like this. Given the lack of racial or academic rank diversity among the journal’s authors, this strategy seems short-sighted.

YFS makes it very clear that they do not accept unsolicited articles, but it less clear how they do acquire their articles. Their website does state that the journal is organized entirely as special issues, with only guest editors, and states that special issue proposals should be sent to their email. But where calls for papers are posted is not noted, so it would seem the guest editors also do not accept unsolicited submissions. In short, YFS seems like a very exclusive, mysterious, closed-off club.